The father of an eastern Iowa toddler, whose death was ruled a homicide after malnourishment and abuse, was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

Anthony Lamont McCoy, 37, pleaded guilty in late May to one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment in the death of his 17-month-old daughter, Avery, who was found dead in November 2016.

McCoy was sentenced by Judge Joel Yates to five years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter count and two years for each child endangerment count, which will run consecutively, a Washington County courthouse clerk said.

He was also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution.

Avery weighed 11 pounds when she was found unresponsive in her crib Nov. 9, 2016, in the family's rural Riverside home. Her cause of death was undetermined, but malnutrition and neglect significantly contributed, a forensic pathologist determined.

McCoy had admitted to failing to take Avery to her to medical appointments to see a pediatric specialist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in September and October 2016, according to court documents.

The girl's mother, Ambrashia "Amber" Chrzan, 30, of Wellman, was sentenced in July to 50 years in prison after she was found guilty of child endangerment resulting in death.

Ambrashia Marie Chrzan(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

Avery was born May 31, 2015, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. She was born five weeks premature with a positive blood test for methamphetamine, authorities said.

A forensic pathologist determined Avery had a pattern of significant weight loss. She lost 4 pounds in the final two months of her life, Dr. Dennis Firchau of with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics determined.

An autopsy found Avery was small for her age and undernourished. She was also not at the age or development level to seek nutrition or medical help herself.

The failure of her caregivers to seek care contributed to her death, Firchau determined.

Chrzan found Avery dead at the couple's home on Poplar Boulevard in Riverside, a Washington County city of about 1,000 residents.

In her obituary, family members said Avery had 11 siblings. The toddler enjoyed "riding in her wagon" and having her picture taken, according to the obituary.

A spike in child abuse cases

Confirmed cases of child abuse in Iowa skyrocketed from 2016 to 2017, rising by 26 percent from 8,892 in 2016 to 11,236 by the end of 2017, the Des Moines Register has reported. It was the most dramatic one-year jump in at least a generation.

Child abuse investigations also increased 43 percent during that time, according to a consultant's review of child welfare practices in Iowa.

Those spikes come in the wake of several high-profile child abuse cases.

In West Des Moines, 16-year-old Natalie Finn died of starvation in October 2016. She and two of her siblings were confined to a bedroom in their adoptive mother's home and deprived of food, authorities said.

Another 16-year-old girl, Sabrina Ray, of Perry, died of starvation in May 2017. She was kept in a locked room with limited access to food, water and a bathroom. She weighed 56 pounds and was extremely malnourished when she died.

Her parents, Marc Ray and Misty Jo Bousman-Ray, are awaiting trial.

The girls in both cases were adopted from state care and home-schooled.

In July, an Ackley couple was accused of torturing an 8-year-old boy by abusing him and keeping him confined under a basement staircase for hours at a time without light, food or bedding.